I often see questions, exclamations, or sentences written with a space before punctuation marks (specifically ,, :, ?, and !), but I usually see these without the space. Which is correct? Are both correct? If not, what's wrong with the incorrect way?
Some examples include:
Some examples include :
How do I do that ?
Alice , Bob , and Carol are here !
Which I usually see written as
Some examples include:
How do I do that?
Alice, Bob, and Carol are here!
Answer
For the punctuation marks for which you are asking the question (comma, colon, question mark, and exclamation point), they are written without any space before them, and with a space after them.
This is what you need: canned tuna fish, tomatoes, beans, olive oil, onions, parsley, and garlic.
I cannot believe it! You are accusing me of something you did!
What time is it? I am hungry.
The same is true for the semicolon and the period.
As for what's wrong with the wrong way, it is just not how punctuation marks are used nowadays. If you put a space before the exclamation point, I would think you are French, and that you are writing in English using the punctuation marks as you would in French, since in French you normally write a space before the exclamation point or the question mark.
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